Danger! Danger!

 The upside down stamps are a tiny political protest as I pay bills. I miss the old days when I didn't wake up every morning wondering what new outrage the Orange Egoist has in mind for our poor country.

There are so many but what I suspect matters the most for the continuance of the US as a democracy  is the attack on voting. One is the proposed SAVE act which mandates burdensome requirements to register to vote--a birth certificate and/or passport. For married women or transgender persons whose legal name is different from that on their birth certificate, this could prevent their voting. And quite a few folks don't have their birth certificates. Or passports. SAVE also mandates that state officials purge their voter rolls. 

According to Heather Cox Richardson, the Brennan Center for Justice estimates that if SAVE passes, around 21 million Americans could lose their votes.

And then there's the proposal recently floated to have ICE thugs at the polls. This would have a chilling effect on all citizens of color or "other" ethnic heritage.

When the GOP fears they may lose, these are the tactics they employ. And recent Democrat gains have them running scared.

The House will be voting on the SAVE bill this week. Time to contact your representative and make your feelings known before it's too late.

 The Orange One says the GOP should "take over" and "nationalize" elections. Or, he muses, maybe we don't need elections at all. . .

Danger! Danger! 

Silent Sunday

 

Dear Sirs

                                         

My friend Vic sent me the following.

I can't improve on his words.

Before the turn of the last century depictions of Blacks as apes appeared in news papers all over the country , trying to overcome the economic and cultural progress Blacks had made and political inroads in politics.  Led by men like Josephus Daniels.  Daniels hired cartoonist to do his dirty work. He was from Washington, NC by the way. 

The result of their editorial campaign lead to the Wilmington riots, the burning of Black Wall Street out west, the Barber Shop riots in Georgetown, and many more.  It set in play the strengthening of the Black Codes and Jim Crow laws that stomped to dust any progress the Negro race had seen since the end of the Civil War.  It took the civil rights movement in the 60's to restore hope for their progress.

Even a hint by a sitting president that America is the nation of Josephus Daniels is unacceptable.  Impeach Trump Now before he destroys our country.

Write your Congressman demand action…NOW!

Hanging In There

 The snow is melting and it looks like our driveway is passable at the moment--but there may be more snow and colder temps Friday afternoon. Arrgh!

So we're going to try to get out for groceries and some necessary odds and ends. 

Next week's forecast is encouraging though--much warmer.

The cold makes it difficult for me to get energized. I tend to spend a lot of time reading. Jayna (the book pusher) recommended Cynthia Harrod-Eagles' six book saga of an English family during WWI.

I'm enjoying it quite a bit, awful as that war was. It makes a change from the awfulness of watching helplessly as our country slides into an authoritarian oligarchy.

Another Snow Day for Josie

 

Two Lives

I'm recycling a post I did back in August of '08 about my maternal grandparents -- Victor Huborn and Ruby. 

1914 ~ Troy, Alabama

Riding in a rented buggy along a country road,
She smiles out at her unknown future,
Crisp in a dress of pale blue linen,
A dark-haired girl with flowers at her waist.

Stiff and correct in Sunday suit,
Her sweetheart wears a somber face
But
His new straw hat
Tilts at a jaunty courting angle.

Governor, the cynical livery hack,
Has seen it all; he poses for posterity;
As an unseen chaperon
Records the fleeting moment.

1973 ~ Tampa, Florida

Still side by side  they sit--  their life buttressed by
One daughter, two grandchildren,
Three great-grandchildren --
A stealthy progression of years and generations
Has somehow come to pass.

Stone-deaf in the now,
The old lady hears the voice
Somewhere deep inside,
The dark-haired girl is whispering:
Still here.
'She had the prettiest little ankles,'
The old man says.

Still Cold

Monday's sun was welcome but it didn't make a dent in the snow.

It did produce some nice icicles.

The moonrise was gorgeous, but it was too cold for me to linger on the front porch.

Just happy to still have power!

 

More Comfort Reads for Uncomfortable Times

                                               

I loved Simonson's Major Pettigrew's Last Stand so much that I reread it a week after finishing it.

And then I treated myself to two more of hers. The Summer Before the War (that's WWI) is set in a small English town and centers on a recently orphaned young woman who has been hired to teach Latin (over the objections of many who feel only a man should hold the post.) 

It's very much a novel of manners--Jane Austen would have recognized the petty snobberies and infighting of the townspeople. And she would have nodded appreciatively at the eventually happy ending. 

The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club is set in 1919. WWI has ended; men are home from the front; and the women who have been praised for filling their places are being told they're no longer employable. 

Once again, Simonson reveals the strife, the class perceptions, and the basic unfairness at work. But once again, (this is a comfort read, after all) most things work out for the best. 

I've always been partial to English fiction, and especially that of the first half of the last century. These two did not disappoint.

Rabbit, Rabbit (Hare, Hare)

 

And It Snowed

 

Bracing for Another Snow Event

We came through the last one unscathed; now we're hoping to keep our power and water in this weekend's weather. 

May all be well for all of us! 

And Another Snow Day

 

Heroes Among Us

I'm thinking of Alex Pretti, who was murdered  while bearing witness to the brutal tactics of ICE, while trying to assist a woman they had knocked to the ground.

And I'm thinking of all the brave folks out in freezing weather with their cameras--still bearing witness despite the federal government's attempts to intimidate them.

Getting rid of Bovino is just a start. He and Noem and Steven Miller need to be held accountable for this brutal gang of thugs. As does the president, at whose desk the buck famously stops. 

ICE should be removed from MN. They should be unmasked, fitted with ID and body cameras, and demilitarized. Most importantly, they should NOT enjoy immunity, as this regime has suggested.

May we all be as brave as Pretti and those hardy Minnesotans!

Oops! This was meant to post on the 28th. These snow days make it hard for me to keep track of the date.